The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, and more particularly to source code control.
Source code for a software product is kept in a central repository from which all team members receive a copy of the files needed for their tasks. Following code modification and unit test, the changed files replace the original files, which are now part of the change history. The repository may contain multiple branches to separate code streams that are in different stages of readiness for commercial release. However errors may be introduced, for example, if a change to fix a defect is made in one branch but not properly propagated to the other branches. This may affect the quality of software developed using a continuous delivery paradigm, which abandons traditional development/release cycles in favor of short cycles where software can be reliably released at any time. A stateful development control system can identify the readiness of a file to be built into a product.